Hi everyone. I've missed talking with all of you. Since I've been away, God has given me some new insights into his truths that I felt I needed to bring back to all of you. In the past, I shared with some about what happens to unbelievers when they die. I shared that unbelievers would spend their eternity in a place called hell that was an eternal seperation from God and the believers in Heaven. I've been doing alot of studying in the scriptures and digging deeper into the words of God and praying for wisdom on the topic of Hell. I've since learned that I was not accurate about what happens to those who die and don't trust Jesus for their salvation. I want to correct my past stand on the issue.

God has shown me that all men are born mortal. (they don't have the ability to live forever) They can become immortal (have the ability to live forever) if they seek after it. Immortality can be found in Jesus Christ. If a person believes in Jesus and trusts him to bring them into Heaven when they die, then they will be given (by God) the ability to live forever. God alone is immortal. No man has seen God as of yet. All who have died in the past are at rest (sleeping) until the return of Jesus to this earth. At that time,(and no man knows the day nor the hour of His return) all the believers in Jesus from Adam to the present will be resurrected from their sleep. (awakened) They will be brought into God's presence at that time. Then, about 7 years later they will return to this earth once again to rule and reign with Jesus on the earth. Jesus will rule for 1000 years more (a millinium) and after this time is over, the earth will end. All the unbelievers since Adam's time to the present will be resurrected (as mortals, for they did not seek after immortality and can not receive it) from their sleep of death and be judged according to their deeds. Since they didn't trust in Jesus for their salvation, they are cast into a place called Hell (which I believe is the earth we are on right now) and die a second death and are destroyed. They perish along with the present earth in a great fire. (thus why people say hell is a firey place) Then God will make a new Heaven and Earth for those who believed in Him to live on for all eternity. Where I was wrong was in my telling you that those who go to Hell live there forever and suffer for their decision to live without God. Since unbelievers in Jesus can not receive immortality unless they seek after it and become children of God through believing in Jesus, then they can not have "life" in Hell. They don't get life, they get death. The famous verse most people know from the bible, John 3:16 says that there are 2 options in life. Believe and have eternal life or don't believe and perish. (Perish: to become destroyed or ruined : cease to exist) So, I'm sorry for giving you the wrong information the last time I was here. God has opened my eyes to the truth and shared it with me in his word. The death sentence is one of the worse sentences that man can receive from the hand of a jury and judge. It is also the worse sentence that one can receive from God. If you wouldn't like to receive the death sentence in this life, then you surely won't like receiving it from God when you awaken from your sleep of death to be judged before Him, especially when you awaken from that sleep and view what you could be getting instead; eternal life in Heaven. So, please take some time to talk to God right now and ask Jesus to be your savior and to give you immortality.

Thanks for reading. I know it's long. Please comment back. Love, Patty

Patty! It's nice to see your name pop up again.

Thank you, Hummingbird. Happy to be back. I see you're still chatting. How are things going with you.... and with this site?

I thought this was a LapBand support site. Definitely off-topic thread.

that's why its posted in here. I honestly didnt know there was an off-topic board on here, but now I know! (and I'll probably ignore it from now on).

GOOD PLACE TO REACH ALOT OF PEOPLE TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.AS A BELIEVER MYSELF IT WAS A GREAT MESSAGE. THANKS GINNY

Eh <--- thats all I want to say.

Whenever someone gets on a soapbox (for whatever reason) I always remember a line from Tommy Boy:

"Hey, I'll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher's ass by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn't you rather to take his word for it?"

I'm not a psychologist but there are certain topics that typically don't add insight into anyone's life. The message in this thread about God is typically the same one most of us have heard, its not really a new insite, I've rarely heard anyone (anyone speaking honestly) actually say "So I'm a sinner and I don't give two squats about God but ONE DAY I was walking to the mall or ONE DAY I was on a message board or ONE DAY I was washing my car at the car wash and someone came up to me and said "Have you been saved? Did you know Jesus Christ died for YOUR sins? Did you know you can live an immortal life if you just believe in God and Trust In Him ... etc and by Golly I'm shooting rainbows out my butt now and I'm ready for the ride of my life!!!!"

Still love ya for the post, but like I said before "Hey, I'll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher's ass by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn't you rather to take his word for it?"

AMEN ...... VERY INFORMATIVE....

Thank you, Hummingbird. Happy to be back. I see you're still chatting. How are things going with you.... and with this site?

I stick around LBT to keep my head in the lapband game. Things are well with me and I'm loving life (mostly). Many of the people who posted often when you were active on the site don't post much anymore. There are still a few of us around though. With the nature of the site there are many newbies gathering info and basic support. The Rants & Raves area has cobwebs and dust in it. I like to talk with folks about things other than lapband sometimes after getting to know them a bit because we have the band in common. That doesn't happen as often here anymore

I hope you are well and loving life too Patty.

and I'm definitely a newbie. Though I like the place.

Hummingbird, I just wanted to say that you look terrific, and you're at your goal weight. I'm glad you're happy. Thanks for the nice welcome.

Thanks Patty

I weighed 220 when I was 19. I stayed that weight till I was 44. I was very comfortable at that weight all my life. I was 281 lbs at my heaviest at age 48. I had developed diabetes and was taking Actos medication. It caused me to put on over 50 pounds in 4 years. I chose the lap band because I was not used to weighing that much and I was sooooo uncomfortable. After the lap band, I lost 60 lbs. Then no more. I currently weigh 220. I had the lapband in 2008. So,for the last 4 years, I've been at 220 which is the weight I have been used to all my life. The good thing is that I don't have diabetes anymore. So, the lap band got rid of that, as well as 60 unwanted pounds. I'm happy with those results. I would love it if it could help me lose more, but I'm an icecream kind of girl, and I don't get any exercise. I know what I need to do to continue to lose, but just like before the band, I don't do it. Oh well.

Have you thought about going in and getting a fill? When was your last one? I bet the band could help you drop another 50 pounds. I like icecream and other "bad" things and still eat them. I just don't live on them. I also never did start exercising. I sure am more active in general now that I'm not lugging around the extra 100+ pounds.

Pattygreen good to see you back! I missed your posts. As a Christian I think God can be talked in any and all conversations. He is big part of our life just as the Band is part of our life. Good to have you back!

Cheri

Oh help - she's back!